


mysterious (little town)

by Quillium



Series: natsume week 2k19 [6]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, Natsume is a god AU, Tumblr: Natsume Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 11:36:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19722898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillium/pseuds/Quillium
Summary: Natsume melts into her arms like a puzzle clicking perfectly in place, and Touko buries her face in his hair.“Yeah,” Taki, the girl who was painting on the ground, whispers, “They’re one of us.”





	mysterious (little town)

Retirement brings Touko and Shigeru to a small town by a lake, one-story cottages for homes and more wildlife than they’re used to poking ought between cobblestones.

“Oi,” a boy is whispering when they arrive with their luggage, “I told you all to behave for the week! We’re getting newcomers and they’re older so we don’t want to risk them falling and hurting themselves, we need to give them time to get used to—“

They approach just as a flower bush is swallowed between cobblestones, almost sulkily.

“Oh my,” Touko says, surprised as they watch, “Shigeru-san, it appears I’m getting rather old. My eyesight seems to be failing me.”

“No, I saw it too,” Shigeru says.

“Oh!” The boy who sent away the flower bush reddens and quickly stands. He pats away some of the dirt on his overalls but Touko thinks he’d never pat it all away, there’s too much. “We—we didn’t expect you until later.”

“The early bird catches the worm,” Touko says brightly.

“Right, uh,” the boy shuffles a bit and his eyes flicker to where the bush used to be. He holds out a hand and says, “Nishimura. It’s a pleasure.”

“Touko,” Touko shakes his hand and smiles, “This is Shigeru-san. We’ll be moving into the newly constructed home by the lake.”

“Of course,” Nishimura smiles brightly, “It was made just for you, you’ll love it.”

“Well, I don’t know about _just_ for us,” Touko laughs, “But it certainly seemed like quite the lovely home. Shigeru-san and I thought it was the home of our dreams, it was quite the coincidence that it was built just as we were thinking of moving away from the city and retiring.”

“Coincidence,” Nishimura’s smile turns almost impish, mysterious, “Of course. Well, would you like me to be your guide?”

“If it’s no trouble.”

“None at all, we’re a small town so everyone knows each other,” Nishimura picks up a piece of luggage, “Here, I’ll get that. If there’s any place you want to see, like the grocery store or just meet your neighbours, we can do that after dropping off your stuff. You don’t have a lot, is more coming later?”

“We don’t need too much,” Touko says, holding Shigeru’s hand, “We’ve got each other. And the rest can be replaced.”

Nishimura’s nods, “You’ll fit right in.”

__

There’s a boy wiping down the counters of the grocery store when they enter, dressed neatly with a tie thrown over his shoulder.

“Yo, Atsushi!” Nishimura yells, waving his hands, “You look dumb!”

“Shut up, Satoru!” The boy with the tie yells back, “I want to look good for the new—peo—“ his face drains of colour when he catches sight of Touko and Shigeru, “I thought they wouldn’t be coming until later! It’s not even 10 in the morning!” He scrambles a bit to smooth out his hair and straighten the tie and his shirt, “It’s, uh, nice to meet you. I’m Kitamoto.”

“A pleasure,” Touko exchanges a fond look with Shigeru, “I’m Touko and that’s Shigeru. You seem to have quite the work ethic.”

“No, I mean, thank you, I—“ Kitamoto frowns at Nishimura, “If you’re looking for Taki, she’s working on the wards with Natsume and Nyanko.”

“Oh,” Nishimura sidles up to Kitamoto, “They saw me talking down a bush.”

Kitamoto pales. He glances at Touko and Shigeru and offers a strained smile, “Sorry, one moment.” He turns back to Nishimura and demands, “ _Why_? What happened to easing them into it?”

“They came really early!” Nishimura protests, “It caught me off guard!”

“Okay. Alright, we’ll just tell them and—“

“We can hear you, you know,” Shigeru cuts in, amused.

“Oh,” Nishimura reddens.

“Idiot,” Kitamoto mutters. Touko isn’t sure if he’s calling Nishimura or himself one.

“This would be easier if Natsume were here,” Nishimura mourns.

“We’ll take them to him, then,” Kitamoto scrunches up his face, “His town, his problem.”

Nishimura nods a bit and says, “Yeah, okay, sounds fair.”

And they take them to Natsume.

__

Natsume is a wisp of a boy and as soon as Touko lays eyes on him there is something in her chest tugging her forward, because there is something about him that is familiar, in a way that nobody but Shigeru has ever made her feel.

“Touko-san, Shigeru-san,” he breathes upon seeing them, and she knows that he feels it too, this mysterious familiarity.

He melts into her arms like a puzzle clicking perfectly in place, and she buries her face in his hair.

“Yeah,” Taki, the girl who was painting on the ground, whispers, “They’re one of us.”

Nastume, they explain, is a god of sorts.

“Not exactly,” Natsume says, almost embarrassed, “I mean, I’m aging and such just like a human. It’s just that if I chose to, I could be a god.”

“Which is basically the same thing as being a god, stupid,” the white creature they call _Nyanko_ (why, Touko has no idea. Nyanko puts up a token protest and mutters something about his name being Madara but nobody calls him that so Touko gives up on it after a bit).

“Don’t call me stupid,” Natsume pokes Nyanko, and then turns to Touko. “There are people in this world who are tied to me. I think in another world you may have been important to me, somehow—so I kind of gathered everyone here. You can leave if you want. But this is a safe place. Bad things don’t happen here. It’s very peaceful. Um.”

“You can get cool powers,” Nishimura says cheerfully.

“It’s more like, because my powers are so heavy here, there’s more leeway for humans to have—“ Natsume shrugs, “Abilities.”

“Alright,” Touko says easily, “Sounds like a nice place to retire.”

Shigeru nods, “So long as there are no strings.”

“None,” Natsume says quickly, waving his hands, “And, uh, others can visit as well. Friends or relatives, if you don’t want to go out or just want to invite them over. They just can’t stay for over a year.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Touko says. She and Shigeru hadn’t been quite so social after the funeral of a few close friends for reasons such as old age or illness, and it had been just the two of them against the world for a while.

“Alright,” Natsume smiles, “Then welcome. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Yes,” Shigeru squeezes Touko’s hand, “I think we will.”

And they do, all the way until they lay together on their beds, knowing their time has come, the boy who was a god but became like a son crying softly as he sends off their souls.

Their retirement, in this little town full of people who have become family, is peaceful and beautiful and Touko is glad they came.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to expand more on this but it'll remain short for now. Alas.


End file.
